the ballast planned and cut spending in a responsible way that would also ask the wealthiest americans to pay a little more. i still want to get this done. it is the right thing to do for families, our businesses, and our entire economy. but the allure for immediate action is here. -- hour for immediate action is here. in just a four days, every american's tax rates are scheduled to go up by law. every american's paycheck will get considerably smaller. that would be the wrong thing to do for our economy. it would be bad for middle-class families, and it would be bad for businesses that depend on family spending. fortunately, congress can prevent it from happening if the act right now. i just had a good and constructive discussion here in the white house with senate and house leadership about how to prevent the tax hike on the middle class. i'm optimistic we may still be able to reach an agreement that can pass both houses in time. senators reid and mcconnell are working on such an agreement as we speak. but if an agreement is not reached in time, between senator reid and senator mcconn